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Stoudemire 10 for 10, Knicks crush Kings 120-81

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Modified: February 2, 2013 at 10:33 pm •
Published: February 2, 2013

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NEW YORK (AP) — Amare Stoudemire sat through the sluggish start, and had one thought in mind when it was his turn to change it.

"Dominate," he said. "Dominate is the main objective. That's the only thought that I think when I go in the game."

New York Knicks' Amare Stoudemire dunks during the first half of NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

That's exactly what Knicks did. Really, really dominate.

Stoudemire was 10 for 10 from the field for 21 points, and New York unleashed a 38-4 run on Sacramento in the first half and clobbered the Kings 120-81 on Saturday night for its fourth straight victory.

The Knicks actually trailed by 10 when Stoudemire entered in the first quarter, then went on to challenge the franchise-record victory margin of 48 points and kept alive Mike Woodson's chances of coaching the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

It was an awesome display by New York in front of some special guests: 150 children, their families and teachers from Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Knicks didn't even need much from leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who tied a season low with nine points and had his run of 20-point games snapped at 31, the longest single-season streak in franchise history.

"Tonight it was just one of those games where (we) tried to find it elsewhere," Anthony said. "You know, scoring there, we didn't need my scoring tonight. Everybody contributed from that aspect of it."

J.R. Smith scored 25 points and Steve Novak added 15 as the Knicks made 19 3-pointers. Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the first Knicks player with consecutive 20-board games since Marcus Camby on Dec. 8 and 11, 2001.

"We had a slow start and then it's like as soon as a couple of guys started hitting shots, it's contagious," Novak said. "I think it was just crazy how quickly it turned once we started making shots."

But the story was Stoudemire, a former All-Star who missed the first 30 games after knee surgery and has served as a reserve since his return. He changed the game with his energy and scoring after the Knicks sleepwalked through the start, and finished one basket shy of tying the team record for field goals without a miss, held by Johnny Newman and Bernard King.

Feeling back to 100 percent and showing off some of his old explosiveness, Stoudemire could feel the game change when he went in.

"It feels great to provide a certain amount of energy to get us over the hump," he said.

DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, who were horrible from all areas of the court, missing shots right at the rim on offense and often not even getting anywhere near the Knicks' 3-point shooters on defense.

"It's crazy. I don't know what happened, man," said guard Tyreke Evans, who shot 3 of 10 for seven points. "We missed a lot of layups. I missed a lot of layups. One of those nights. I think it was the worst game I ever played in the NBA. I can't explain it."

The Knicks were down 13-3 and in the midst of a 1-for-13 shooting start when Stoudemire checked in. The Kings got the lead to 18-6, but then Stoudemire had a dunk and three-point play on consecutive possessions, scoring seven points in a 19-4 burst to end the quarter that gave the Knicks a 25-22 lead.